Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch

Maybe they've discussed this book before, but maybe they haven't. Maybe they've found Huck Finn's dream girl and the nemesis of Holden Caulfield: It's Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. In this episode:

Ethan thinks Michael's butt is very good.

Ethan is so angry.

Michael controls your narrative.

Michael & Ethan have been flipping a coin since episode 1.

Michael & Ethan Create Fanfiction out of American Letters: The Best Podcast.

They take turns complicating things.

We never do anything out of order or rational structure.

Our Authors, our Leaders, our Listeners: you are the unreliable narrator creating us.

Next month they'll be reading and discussing Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

"Intermission" by Unthunk. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Finding more to discuss about The Ocean at the End of the Lane by @neilhimself, Michael & Ethan break the barriers of sound in their excitement. In this episode:

Ethan is a very lovely lady.

This podcast is a rip-roaring thing.

What is "popular mythology"?

Everything is concluded at 16:30.

Ethan takes his Maiden, Mother, and Crone and goes home.

This is a clean, family-friendly podcast.

Ethan equivocates.

They explain marriage.

Words don't exist, but also they do.

Ethan calls Michael an adult.

Next month they'll be reading and discussing Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

The boys are very, very excited to talk about this one, one of their mutually favorite books by one of their mutually favorite authors: it's The Ocean at the End of the Lane by @neilhimself. In this episode:

They're in a room they've never recorded in before.

Someone's lying, and Ethan thinks it's this bottle of scotch.

Michael is definitely a plebe.

Neil Gaiman has probably read every book.

They're both right, and they're both wrong.  <--don't open the box!

Ethan hates Michael, and he loves him (especially for this comment).

Chapter 13 is their favorite.  Because of course it is.

Ethan isn't all on board with the Gnosticism.

Check out #wifequotes.

Next month they'll be reading and discussing Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. Join the discussion! Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line. We'd love to hear from you! And submit your homework at the Michael & Ethan in a Room with Scotch page.

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco. Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

"Thinking It Over" by Lee Rosevere. Used under an Attribution License.

"Intermission" by Unthunk. Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Michael & Ethan are still doing homework!  (Hopefully in time for finals...)  Submit yours on the website!  This week's homework assignment was "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot.  So, drinking some beer, they discuss how much they don't know how to say.

In this episode:

Michael causes problems in Ethan's life.

Sit down, shut up, stop making out with each other, and listen to me talk about my beer.

Ethan translates some Dante.

Michael doesn't actually hate our listeners.

Michael also doesn't claim to be a good poet.

Ethan answers his own question from the beginning.

Here's the solution: "This poem is the theme of this poem" - Ethan J. M. Bartlett.

We hate all of our listeners, but none so much as those who give us money.  But really, that's #onlyMichael.

How about Mahler's 2nd?

Next time, the pair will be in a room again, drinking Scotch, and discussing The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.  Read along!  Join the discussion!  Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line.  Or head over to the Homework Submission Form and give us your assignment.  We'd love to hear from you!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett) - & check out pinporterdetective.com!

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco.  Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua.  Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Michael & Ethan are doing homework!  Submit yours on the website!  Also, Michael is moving, so they couldn't get together to talk about their regularly scheduled book.  That's coming, don't worry!  But the podcast is going through changes, passing through puberty, growing up.  So, this episode, they're going to help you with your English class by discussing some of Shakespeare's Sonnets!

Sonnet #18 - 20:17

Sonnet #130 - 33:23

Sonnet #138 - 43:02

Sonnet #141 - 55:44

Love's Labour's Lost, IV.iii - 1:03:46

In this episode:

Welcome to MaEiaRwSEtMWBiTSRaWNDS!

We reset around 3:40.

Ethan doesn't want to get into Gnostic crap.

This is the special where Michael & Ethan rag on their wives and sleep on their couches for ages (as if that isn't the norm).

We make no promises, therefore we disappoint no one.

Michael aspirates his H's, or his W's?

Shakespeare is like Three Days Grace.

Ultimate literary theory on the Sonnets: It's all a dream.

Ethan blames Shakespeare, not his own faults.

For the next Homework Special, your instructors will be analyzing "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T. S. Eliot.  Read along!  Join the discussion!  Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line.  Or head over to the Homework Submission Form and give us your assignment.  We'd love to hear from you!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco.  Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua.  Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Michael & Ethan eventually finish discussing A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  Karen left, because she hates us (but also has to work in the morning), but mostly because she hates us.  In this episode:

Several people have Ethan's apartment bugged.

New podcast title: "Ethan in a Room Drinking Scotch that Michael Is Also in but Not Drinking the Scotch with Him."

We're pretty much always honest.

Ethan's CPR certification is out of date.  Michael failed his certification test.

New podcast title: "Karen and Sarah in a Room with Italian Sunsets (and Crocheting, and No Talking)"

Ethan says, "What was I saying?" a lot.

Michael is a cheesy Hamlet.

Michael isn't going to talk about Patripassianism or Modalism

SPOILER WARNING for Pete's Dragon around 1:02:00.

Michael says just one teaser sentence.

Next month they'll be reading and discussing A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  Join the discussion!  Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line.  We'd love to hear from you!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco.  Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua.  Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Michael & Ethan begin discussing a favorite of Michael's: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  Also, they have a very special guest!  Ethan's wife - I mean, Michael's wife, er, Ethan's....  It's all very confusing.  It's Karen Bartlett!  (Don't worry, everything is definitely on the up-and-up, as far as you can tell.)  In this episode:

All kinds of wrinkles (get it?)

This podcast is a road-trip, and everyone's dad is a quantum physicist.

Michael wrote an essay.

There's an interruption.

Ethan's head hurts.

Karen brings down the quality of the podcast, but she owns it now.

You don't have to enunciate and you're right.

Ethan talks about Deadpool.

Michael is a Hamlet sandwich.

Next month they'll be reading and discussing A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  Join the discussion!  Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line.  We'd love to hear from you!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco.  Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua.  Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Michael & Ethan continue talking about A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe while drinking a Highland single malt.  Ethan promised to answer all your questions.  Does he?  In this episode:

Ethan pilots the podcast alone.

Karen doesn't get credit.

Ethan gives Michael a giant bubble.  Michael pokes holes in it.

Ethan wants to be Alzabo Soup.

Michael issues a public challenge to Alzabo Soup.

They discuss next month's book already.

As promised, you can read the Neil Gaiman article they mentioned here.

Next month they'll be reading and discussing A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  Join the discussion!  Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line.  We'd love to hear from you!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco.  Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua.  Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Michael & Ethan crack into A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe while drinking a Highland single malt.  None of it's not pretty.  In this episode:

They slow down, as requested.

A couple alternate titles for the podcast are thrown around.

Ethan is a completionist most of the time.

Ethan agrees but disagrees.  Michael disagrees but agrees.

Gene Wolfe treats us like dogs.

Michael makes Ethan hate him.

Michael dies.

Next time: Ethan maybe solves some of the actual mystery.

As promised, you can read the Neil Gaiman article they mentioned here.

In two weeks they'll conclude their analysis of A Borrowed Man, and next month they'll be reading and discussing A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  Join the discussion!  Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line.  We'd love to hear from you!

Next month, we'll read and discuss .  Read along, and tell us what you think!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco.  Used by permission.

"The Grim Reaper - II Presto" by Aitua.  Used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

Michael & Ethan & special guest Sarah continue discussing The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne while enjoying a couple tasty Rittenhouse Rye cocktails made by your host, Ethan Bartlett.  Look below for the recipes!  In this episode:

Ethan & Sarah in a Room with Scotch.

Michael fused with the book (again?).

Michael rocks your world.

Sarah undercuts the basis of the entire podcast.

Ethan & Michael protest too much.

Chewbacca makes a guest appearance.

The whole podcast is pure speculation.

We end with a dejected Michael.

The Cocktails:

Old-Fashioned:

1 tsp simple syrup

4 dashes bitters

4 oz rye

Add syrup and bitters; stir; add rye; add ice.

Manhattan:

2 oz rye

1 oz sweet vermouth

1 dash bitters

Mix in a bar glass; stir; strain into a rocks glass; add ice.

The Mankato:

2 oz rye

1 oz sweet vermouth

1/2 oz elderflower liqueur

1/4 oz campari

Mix in a bar glass; stir; strain into a rocks glass; add ice.

Next month they read and discuss A Borrowed Man by Gene Wolfe.  Join the discussion!  Go to the Contact page and put "Scotch Talk" in the Subject line.  We'd love to hear from you!

Next month, we'll read and discuss .  Read along, and tell us what you think!

Your Hosts: Michael G. Lilienthal (@mglilienthal) and

Ethan Bartlett (@bjartlett)

"Kessy Swings Endless - (ID 349)" by Lobo Loco.  Used by permission.